Buccaneers vs. Rams score, takeaways: Tom Brady guides last-minute comeback win in sloppy playoff rematch

The Bucs are gonna do it! Brady hits Cade Otton on the little roll-out and Tampa Bay is ahead with nine seconds to play!

Tom Brady delivers one to Scotty Miller along the left sideline to push the Bucs inside the red zone and stop the clock at :19. Does it again on the next play to creep closer to the end zone. Tampa Bay has a real chance to swipe this one, especially after a slant to Mike Evans draws a pass interference call that will push the ball closer to the goal line.

Rams keep insisting on the Buccaneers stealing this game, and vice-versa. Up 13-9 still, they can't get a single first down to put it away (again). Run: no gain. Run: 2 yards. Run: 1 yard. That's an offensive line that cannot win. And so Tom Brady gets another shot to elevate his dysfunctional supporting cast.

Rams have no trouble batting down Tom Brady's fourth-and-goal desperation throw, intended for Mike Evans but tossed into at least double coverage. The Buccaneers are playing exactly like a team with no idea what it wants to be.

Does anyone want Tom Brady to succeed? Seriously? Who is helping him right now? Mike Evans has struggled to hang onto the football all night, and then Scotty Miller drops a perfectly thrown pass to the back of the end zone. Cade Otton takes his turn on the next play, failing to secure a tight-window bullet. Bucs still hapless in the red zone, it seems, even with the game on the line.

Rams with a chance to basically put this thing away with a couple of first downs, and instead they get nowhere. Cam Akers is stuffed behind the line. Cooper Kupp loses yards on a reverse. And then Matthew Stafford avoids a sack only to run into another. Disgusting football from the reigning champions, continuing a trend we've witnessed all year. If they hang on to win this 13-6, it'll only be because their opponents, the Buccaneers, are equally sapped of creativity, proper depth, etc.

Epitome of this game:

Tom Brady finally lets one fly down the right sidelines, putting the ball right on Mike Evans' hands and beyond those of Jalen Ramsey, but Evans can't hang on. Worse yet, he didn't keep his feet in-bounds during the route. Wasted opportunity. No points. Bucs still trailing 13-6, and again, that one-score deficit almost feels insurmountable based on their inability to move the ball.

Another look at Cooper Kupp getting free:

There it is: Cooper Kupp gets open downfield again, and Matthew Stafford steps up to hit him. Thirty-four yards that time, and Kupp continues to be the Rams' MVP today. Up to 122 yards on six catches, putting L.A. in the red zone for the second time of the day. Right on cue, facing second-and-goal, Stafford gets swallowed up by Rakeem Nunez-Roches for the sack, and then Sean McVay dials up a short run to shorten the ensuing field goal. Conservative finale to one of their few explosive drives of the game. It's now 13-6, and somehow that lead feels massive to a Bucs offense that's been brutal to observe.

Rams extend the lead to 10-6 after a short Matt Gay field goal, but only after two straight Matthew Stafford incompletions put a sour cap on an otherwise promising drive that began at their own 25. Allen Robinson made one of the best plays of his season during the stretch, laying out beyond two defenders to secure a 15-yard gain. Let's see what Byron Leftwich has in store next.

Julio Jones very slow to get up after Tom Brady can't connect with the receiver on a downfield shot on third-and-long. The wideout slipped on the grass as he prepared to come back toward the ball. He hasn't been able to stay healthy during his Buccaneers debut, and it wouldn't be surprising if he's limited from here on out. The clock keeps ticking on this mess of a matchup, and both sides keep refusing to move the ball. Bucs now 4 of 11 on third downs.

That's a half in Tampa Bay. It's a one-point game after Ryan Succop connects from 38, and both teams take to the locker rooms with their heads hardly held high. Seven three-and-outs between the two slumping clubs, and only God knows what they can tell themselves during the break to amend their offensive woes. This says it all: the Bucs are far and away the leaders in that category so far, and they're averaging a whopping 4.9 yards per play, going 0-for-1 in the red zone. The Cooper Kupp splash TD was the only real highlight of the first two quarters, and it's saving L.A. thus far.

Starting to understand fan concerns about Byron Leftwich's play-calling: what on Earth do the Bucs expect to do handing it off on second-and-five in perpetuity, let alone to a back other than Leonard Fournette? The line is not constructed to steamroll a D-line, let alone that of the Rams, and yet here they go, over and over, pounding it up the gut when you've got Tom Brady under center, Mike Evans out wide and Chris Godwin to boot. Ryan Succop comes on for a 52-yard field goal try after yet another stalled drive, and fittingly, it's blocked. Rams retain their 7-3 lead in this ugly game of football.

Three plays. Punt. Three plays. Punt. Neither the Bucs nor the Rams appear ready to break out of their stagnant shells. Tampa Bay continues to run the same things and expect different results: runs or short throws to running backs on early downs. Doesn't matter who's touching the ball on their end; no one is finding an open hole. The best stretch they had was on their first drive, when Tom Brady actually had the opportunity to drop back and push the ball downfield to Mike Evans and Co.

Matthew Stafford nearly gets picked while trying to sling one out of bounds, with Mike Edwards getting his hands on the ball toward the sidelines. The Rams QB, now 7 of 14 on the afternoon, was tied for second in the NFL with eight picks coming into the game. L.A.'s passing game remains a crapshoot if Cooper Kupp isn't the intended target in open space. Allen Robinson's gotten his hands on a couple of third-down conversions, but he's not creating anything extra, either.

Cooper. Kupp. Somehow the Buccaneers failed to keep a single man on the Rams' top target, and Matthew Stafford zips one downfield after a bobbled snap. The receiver takes it the rest of the way, 69 yards, for the score, and L.A. is out in front, 7-3. That right there is the one way the Rams can win this game: keeping the ball in their play-maker's hands.

One quarter in, and it's same old, same old with these teams: the offensive firepower may exist, but it only shows up in spurts. A combined five first downs for the Bucs and Rams through 15 minutes, with each side averaging fewer than six yards per play. Cam Akers quickly becoming a focal point of L.A.'s offense so far, which would've sounded wild a few weeks ago.

Cam Akers is back. Despite his apparent philosophical differences with the Rams, and both sides' efforts to split ahead of the trade deadline, No. 3 is on the field and taking carries for Los Angeles now. Already out-touching Darrell Henderson Jr. early on.

Van Jefferson missed a ton of time to start the year while recovering from injury, and the lack of practice really showed at the start of the Rams' second drive, with Matthew Stafford delivering a perfect downfield strike to the wide-open receiver, only for Jefferson to let the ball bounce right off his chest. Can't have those kind of big-play mistakes and expect to win. But that's nothing that hasn't been heard already this year in L.A. The Bucs then kill the drive for good with a couple of sacks -- one negated by penalty, then another for real by Vita Vea. A coward's-draw dump-off to Cooper Kupp sets up the punt.

Three-and-out is exactly how the Rams did not want to start this game, but alas, the Buccaneers get good starting field position after a nice return from Jaelon Darden, and then Leonard Fournette rams through Jalen Ramsey for a key first to set up another big play courtesy of Julio Jones, finally healthy and on the receiving end of a precision throw from Tom Brady. Tampa's QB, by the way, looks comfortable out of the gate, making quick decisions and well-timed strikes over the middle. The downside: Really don't love feeding Fournette up the gut on consecutive red-zone plays after Brady's arm helped drive the team into scoring range, forcing the Bucs to settle for three on their first drive. 3-0 ballgame, and it should be 7-0, Tampa Bay.